The Victorian government effectively closed its border with NSW overnight on Sunday, resulting in another blow for cross-border businesses and communities.
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Central Victorians awoke to random border checkpoints set up along the roads leading to NSW, including at Rochester and the bridge leading from Echuca to Moama.
Police monitored the checkpoints and pulled over trucks, cars and caravans heading into Victoria.
It comes a year and five days after NSW first closed its border to Victoria.
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Echuca's Rich River Tourist Park owner Richard Pipe said hearing the border was closing once again was devastating.
"I am not for the border closing ... for people not living on a border and hearing that it's closing doesn't mean much, but for us it means you're cutting a town in half, inconveniencing a whole lot of people for not much gain at all," he said.
"I understand the need to prevent people travelling but this isn't a place to do it."
Mr Pipe said he had been fielding calls since late Sunday night from concerned travellers.
He said there hadn't been much information available for travellers or business owners.
"It is not easy to get information and there have been a lot of issues throughout COVID with the lack of confusing and conflicting information," he said.
"It is driving everybody absolutely crazy.
"People are utterly confused at times and that's including us. It's all been tricky as a business owner."
Mr Pipe said there had already been cancellations for bookings this week.
He said it was difficult and frustrating as a business owner to see the "same mistakes" made by different governments.
"We do the same thing every time, a sure sign of madness doing the same thing over and expecting a different result," he said.
"We keep making the same mistakes over and over again and nothing goes anywhere."
Echuca Riverloaf Bakery owner Catherine Bullard said she found out about the border closure on social media.
Confused about the border restrictions? Find out more here.
"I am only really on Facebook and there isn't much information around, which is concerning," she said.
"The town has been a little more quiet than usual and that is a good sign but there is a lot of police presence around which is reassuring."
With no date given until the border would reopen, Ms Bullard said she would just take every day as it came.
But she said the closure would have a major effect on her business.
"You don't know anymore and you can't predict anything about the future and we are taking it day by day now," she said.
"I hate that we are divided at the moment and I feel for Moama at the moment - businesses, caravan parks - it's difficult.
"It will have an effect on business and we don't know what to expect and that is unknown.
"So far it isn't looking good but it's only early on."
Echuca resident Yvonne Pearce was disappointed to see another border town affected by COVID-19.
"The sooner the federal government can take charge of these outbreaks the better," she said.
"Businesses over the river, which benefit from Victorian residents, have copped it at the moment.
"The border issue is difficult for local businesses and they are suffering."
Ms Pearce said locking down a city didn't mean that smaller regional towns would have to be affected.
"There is a need to lock down Sydney or lock down Melbourne but you don't think to do this - to shut down the border," she said.
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